Ah, Pokémon. I have fond memories of taking my GameBoy Advance on long car rides, battling gym leaders and catching 'em all. Needless to say, when I first heard about Pokémon Go, I was excited for July to come. Now the app has hit most major countries, it seems it has become a global phenomenon, bringing hardcore Pokémon fans, casual, and first-time gamers together (and outside)!
The concept of the game is simple: you wanna be the very best, like no one ever was. You register in the app, create your in-game avatar and pick your starter Pokémon. From there, you can catch Pokémon to your heart's content. There are some really unique things about the game. For starters, it's a video game that you have to go outside to play; how neat is that? It's getting people out of their houses and walking around - something that doesn't happen as often as it should. In the past week alone, as I've trekked around my town, I've seen many others doing the same — and not just teenagers. Many adults have brought their families out for an after-supper walk to catch Pokémon, pushing strollers and holding toddlers' hands. It's bringing back much-needed family time in a new way.
You can also become a gym leader! Once you reach level five on the app, you can pick a team (#TeamInstinct). From there, you fight for control of local gyms against Team Mystic and Team Valor. Train your Pokémon at a friendly gym to gain prestige or take on an enemy gym to take their prestige away (and hopefully gain control of the gym).
Of course, there have been some reports of mishaps and mayhem with the app. In the short time Niantic launched Pokémon Go, there have already been some who were willing to take advantage of the geolocation feature to draw players to certain PokéStops and rob them, using the Lure module. Others haven't been following the instructions on the front loading screen, tweeting about their injuries while playing the game. There have been frequent server crashes because of the overload of players, as well.
There are some features that I wish the game had already, such as trading and actually being able to battle with the Pokémon you've already caught in the traditional ways on the handheld systems, but hopefully those updates are soon to come. As an avid gamer and a fan of Pokémon, I'm really happy with the great response to Go. So, if you haven't downloaded it yet, give it a try! The worst case scenario is that it just isn't your cup of tea, but you may find that it's really a good game to get you out of your house for an hour or two a day.
